Why you may need an Apostille on Death Certificate

A death certificate is one of the most important documents you may ever need to obtain. Within the United States, it is the document used to stop social security payments or benefits of the deceased and is necessary for families to settle affairs regarding an estate. In the international world, the death certificate is used for inheritance issues, visas and marriage licenses when a parent or former spouse has died, and to transport a casket or urn.

The death certificate is a legal document that serves as the only official record of a person’s passing, giving the specific date that a person passed away, their age at death, gender, education, location of the death, and the cause and manner of death. This information is logged in an official Register of Deaths by a registrar at Vital Statistics.

Obtaining an Apostille on Record of Death

While many states use the U.S. Standard Death Certificate from the CDS’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), many variations exist in the forms, process, and reporting of death. There are also differences in how you obtain a death certificate. Each city and state have their own process and fee structures, and not every city and state work in conjunction with one another. For example, some places (such as New York City) base a death certificate on where a person died. Other cities base the death on the place of residence or the place of burial. Boston, for instance, will provide death certificates for those who died in Boston and record their residence in Boston. Those who passed away in another city or town in Massachusetts would need to contact Vital Statistics in the community where the death took place.

Further complicating issues, death certificates may not be available for persons who were not identified at death, are listed as missing, or are undergoing autopsies; these death certificates are often listed as pending. Most agencies will not accept a certificate stamped “Pending” as an official certificate of death.

Death Certificate copy for international use

Death certificates are not valid overseas unless a certified copy of the death certificate is authenticated. A certified copy is the “official copy” obtained from Vital Records at the county or state level. Once you have the certified copy you need to obtain the proper type of authentication. Prior to authentication, some locations, like New York, require a certified Letter of Exemplification as well.

The type of acceptable authentication depends on the country or countries receiving the document. Member countries of the Hague Convention of 1961 (currently 80 countries, 79 states, and one Regional Economic Integration Organization) require a stamp of authenticity specially designed for Hague Convention countries known as a “document apostille”. Other countries require a Certificate of Authenticity from the U.S. Office of Authentications or U.S. Department of State.

Apostilling Death Certificate

A death certificate apostille can be obtained from the designated Competent Authority in the state where the document was issued. No state can apostille a document issued by another state, and the U.S. Department of State will almost never issue an apostille for any state issued documents; however, they will provide a Certificate of Authenticity if your document is not going to a Hague Convention country. If the death took place in a foreign country, you will need to obtain a Consular Report of the Death of an American Abroad and receive an apostille from the U.S. Department of State because documents issued by the federal government or signed by a federal officer, an American Consular Officer, or a military notary or Judge Advocate go through the federal apostille process.

Translating Death Certificate on required language

Once you receive your death certificate apostille, you will want to have it translated. Most countries will not consider documents “legal” unless they are written in the language of the country in which they will be presented, and accepted translations must meet stringent certification and notarization requirements.

Obtaining an apostilled death certificate from the United States when you are already overseas can be time-consuming and troubling. Time differences, mailing costs, and other obstacles can make the process seem impossible. If you find yourself in this situation, you may want to consider using a document retrieval service.

Tight timelines (many certified documents are only considered valid for an apostille for 6 months), inconsistent application procedures, and varied requirements based on your destination country or countries just add to the frustration of the apostille and translation process. To ensure your documents are processed properly and in time, you should seriously consider using a professional apostille company. These are services you can’t afford to have performed improperly.

Preparing Death Certificate with Apoling Solutions

Apoling Solutions is a full-service apostille, translation, and document retrieval service. This means that from one location, Apoling Solutions retrieves documents, orders certified copies, apostilles and authenticates documents, translates, certifies translations, and will get your documents back to you. Once you let Apoling Solutions know your plans, they will obtain your death certificate apostille from any of the 50 U.S. states and/or the U.S. State Department depending on your needs. If you live overseas, Apoling Solutions will retrieve your documents and apostilles for you.

With Apoling Solutions, you need to contact just one agency regardless of where you live or how many documents you need. Even better, you have peace of mind knowing that your documents will be legal, accepted, and not require any additional services because they are guaranteed to align with all international and domestic requirements.